Myriam Nys A passenger on an airplane becomes very ill. After examination, it becomes clear that he suffers from smallpox, a dangerous and highly infectious disease. Disquieting reports come in, speaking of individual smallpox cases in other countries. Will Archie Bannister of the World Health Organisation (WHO) discover the origins of this surprise outbreak, thus saving the world from an epidemic ? A strange movie, this, situated somewhere between thriller, adventure story and comedy. I watched it with a degree of enjoyment, mainly because of the good performance by lead actor Terry-Thomas, but I can understand why the movie is regarded as something of an experiment : the mix is not entirely successful. The main problem stems from the screenplay's desire to keep everything light, neat and happy, which leads to some VERY unrealistic scenes or characters. For instance, the airline passenger who becomes desperately ill is a married man. His wife, a glamorous and much younger woman with a taste for the high life, is not overcome with grief or worry. The viewer can believe this - sadly enough, not all marriages are based on love and tenderness. However, the wife continues to lead a life of near-unclouded happiness, even after discovering a) that her husband has smallpox and b) that she has been exposed to it. Later on, even her husband's death does not rattle her. In real life, the mention of the word "smallpox" would give pause to even the most ambitious or self-absorbed of golddiggers. There's another scene where some representatives of the WHO crash a busy party, in order to tell the guests that they were exposed either to a smallpox sufferer or else to somebody in close contact with a smallpox sufferer. As a result all of those present need to receive an injection, immediately. In the movie everyone takes this announcement in his stride : people queue up in order to get their injection, while asking only the most polite and neutral of questions. Again, it is unlikely that a real-life crowd would react this way. In real life, you would get at least one self-made expert pontificating, at least one obnoxious drunk trying to pick a fight, at least one delicate flower fainting at the sight of a needle, at least one pompous ass threatening litigation, and so on. And people would worry and fret, endlessly : "what if I'm pregnant ?" / "what if I infect my pregnant sister-in-law ?" / "what if the injection doesn't work ?" / "will the injection still work if I get the flu ?" / "I had a great-grandmother who died of smallpox, what if she slipped me some of her bad genes ?" / "what if I develop an adverse reaction to the injection ?" / "last year I suffered from skin cancer, at the beginning of this year I fell off a ladder and now this - am I being cursed ?". But no, in the whole movie there's nary a sob or a complaint to be heard.Still, you won't hear me say that this is the worst movie I've ever seen - it isn't. The intrigue is original and the deductive process is interesting, as is the wider context of the fight against plagues such as smallpox. (Lovers of female pulchritude can also gaze upon Sonja Ziemann, who, as the wife/widow of the stricken passenger, is hot enough to melt rocks.)

ronevickers This is a cracking, lost gem of a film which features a screen stealing performance from the inimitable Terry-Thomas. The film manages to combine mystery and shards of comedy in equal measure, and the pace never flags from start to finish. In the lead role, Terry-Thomas is simply superb and produces a memorable performance. In fact, he demonstrates yet again that he was probably the most underrated comic actor in the movie business. In lesser hands, the lead character of Archie Bannister could have been a complete flop and the film wouldn't be anywhere near as good. However, with Terry-Thomas on absolutely top form, the film is a joy to watch. It's anyone's guess why it hasn't received a wider showing over the years. If you get a chance to catch it, then don't miss it. Heartily recommended!

dbborroughs (Potential Spoilers ahead) Actually the WHO of the Title is the World Health Organization as well as the question as to which person is responsible for a small pox outbreak. Terry Thomas stars as the "germ detective" who stumbles upon a case of small pox on a flight into England. The man who has the disease is a recently married oil man who is returning to England and takes ill on the flight. Quarantined the doctors realize what the deal is and try to track down where he might have caught the disease. However things become complicated and potentially dangerous when two more people elsewhere in Europe come down with the disease. As Thomas tries to track down the common source of the infection (the disease takes two weeks to incubate so its very likely that all three victims have something in common) things become more complicated as people with questionable backgrounds and Arab ministers get brought into the mix.This is a super little mystery that I happened to stumble across by accident. Being a fan of Terry Thomas I decided to give the film a go. Both funny and suspenseful this is a great little thriller that keeps you watching to the very end (I loved that I didn't know where it was going and was glad to just follow along). The joy here is Thomas, who plays WHO's best expendable mind, the guy who knows his stuff, who is constantly fired but always rehired since he knows what he's doing. As one character comments there is more to the man then just his eccentricities. This is a super little film. Its one of those that you need to put on a list and keep an eye for or to do a little digging to find. Its just a great deal of fun.

busterm I haven't seen this movie since it came out in the early 60's, but I've always remembered it as refreshingly unusual, with Terry Thomas as an employee of the World Health Organization who is trying to track down the source of a small, puzzling epidemic of smallpox. He is almost thwarted by big oil money, secrecy, and efforts to cover up criminal acts. (I'm going to see it again soon, however - I found it for sale at CINEMAWEB. If my opinion changes after I've seen it again, I'll change my comments, if your site will allow that.)